


Two yearlings, a herd, and cabin in the woods

by tsundanire



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Forced Cohabitation, Getting Together, Hogwarts Eighth Year, M/M, Magical Horses, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Projects, Starting at 'E' just in case, will bring back down to 'M' if required at end
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-04
Updated: 2020-06-04
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:02:12
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,953
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24528079
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tsundanire/pseuds/tsundanire
Summary: In an attempt to aid the returning Eighth-year students for their entry into the workforce, Professor McGonnagall worked tirelessly to create a brand new 'hands-on-project' based curriculum. The paired-off students spend the entire year focused on their chosen project, and turn in a final thesis—in the hopes that they find something they love doing. That Harry and Draco were forced to work along side one another for the duration of their project, with no one but themselves for company, seemed an added bonus. One they might choose to thank her for later.
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter
Comments: 2
Kudos: 17





	Two yearlings, a herd, and cabin in the woods

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Fires burning low](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21770524) by [tsundanire](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tsundanire/pseuds/tsundanire). 



> This piece was originally meant to be part of my gift to Orpheous87 for Owlpost last year. For a million and a half reasons I had to stop writing the full piece, and shorten it down a little drabble instead. I always wanted to come back and finish this piece, and finally I have. My plan with this one is to work at it a little bit now and them, which is why it's being posted as a wip. It's meant to be my no pressure, easy post, get-together fic. Please keep you eyes on the tags as more will be added per chapter contributions—though it's fair to say there shouldn't any triggering content going forward. 
> 
> I want to thank @llap115 for taking a gander and leaving some thoughts behind. Quite appreciate it! <3 
> 
> As always, thanks for stopping by and giving this a read. Hope you enjoy!

“You’ll find a list of your project assignments along with your individual class schedules on your beds.” Headmistress McGonagall stood in front of the large fireplace, that beautifully adorned the new eighth-year common room. Only a few of them had returned for this attempt at re-doing their missed year, more than expected but still less than worth separating. It made sense to put them all in their own space, given what had happened to them all in the last year, and their relative ages. 

Rather than focusing on a lot of in-class study and theory, the premise was to have the large group focus on year-long projects instead, with a nominal amount of class time focused more on being teaching aids. The time was meant to help prepare them to find jobs in their respective fields, and many of them had yet to decide what that was, or had decided but after the war had changed their minds. 

“Pairs have already been selected, and can be found alongside the list of possible projects. The sign up sheet will be available one week from today, at morning meal in the Great Hall. Projects will be given according to first-come, first-served. Is that clear?” 

Voices mingled together in concordance, and then broke apart into groups as soon as the Headmistress left. It didn’t surprise Harry in the least of course, given that people had a tendency to stick with what they knew. And these people had spent years mingling with their own houses which meant sticking with the people they knew and trusted. But most of Gryffindor house hadn’t returned, with the exception of Hermione, and Dean Thomas. Neville was coming back in the next year to shadow Professor Sprout—who was set to be retiring in the near future.

There was a kind of exhaustion Harry felt these days, that went beyond physical. With the weight of his entire eighteen years now over, and the prophecy shadowing him now fulfilled, he should have felt relieved or at least less tired. But after spending some time over the summer with the best of St Mungo’s therapy Wixen, Harry was starting to understand that he was weighted down with the full understanding of everything he’d seen and that had happened to him. Their recommendation was to return to Hogwarts for a final year, to close out the chapter of his youth. This also allowed time to simply be young and carefree, even for a short time. 

There was no need to look around and figure out what everyone was doing. He could hear it in the shrieks and shouts of the students finding out their pairing assignments, running up and down the tower stairs. 

“Aren’t you going to see who you’re paired with, Harry?” Hermione inquired, leaning over the shoulder of his armchair, as he read the scores for the recent Holyhead Harpies game. 

“I figure whoever I’m paired with will come find me eventually. I’d rather not deal with the excitement on the stairs.” 

Hermione huffed, letting him be. By the sounds of it, she’d gone on to find her partner—and then tell them exactly what they were going to work on. 

—

Harry didn’t have to wait long. It was only a few minutes before the stomping sounds of shoes—angrily making their way towards him—could be heard. 

“Come on, we’re going to McGonagall. This is completely unacceptable.” Draco Malfoy’s tone was venom and ice, which would have been entertaining in the years prior, but Harry felt ambivalent about the man’s irritation. 

Rather than fighting it, Harry chose to follow the blond through the castle halls. 

“And honestly, I don’t even understand why. I understand the feeble attempt at ‘ _house unity_ ’ and what she is trying to go for with us older students, but honestly. This is too far.” 

Harry listened as Draco rambled on for another few minutes, in fact, he didn’t say a single word the entire walk to the Headmistress’ office. Not even when she invited them in and offered them a seat in front of her desk, nor when Draco rambled on for a solid seven minutes about the unfairness of their pairing. Harry sat, with his hands folded in his lap, just waiting until he was needed. 

“And how do you feel about this arrangement Mr. Potter?” 

Harry lifted his gaze to see both Headmistress McGonagall and Draco staring at him. 

“Oh. Uh.” Harry felt sheepish, not having fully listened to Draco’s argument. “I dunno. I don’t really care either way I guess?” 

“Riveting reply, Mr. Potter.” The tone in McGonagall’s voice was annoyance mixed with her usual level of ‘fed-up-ness’. It was barely the start of term and she was already one hundred percent done with their shit. 

“As it stands boys, your being put together was done rather on purpose. We need you boys to show the rest of the school that you can both put your equally horrendous attitudes towards each other, behind you. And move forward, harmoniously.”

Draco stood up, seething with rage at his inability to change the outcome of his misfortune, then nodded his head at the Headmistress and left. 

“I’m sorry Potter. I know it’s not idea-”

“It’s alright. I know what you were trying to do. I just think some hatred runs even deeper than can be erased.” Harry shrugged, and followed Draco’s suit. 

—

The first week of term moved as quickly as Harry had expected. It was a blur of student activity in the hallways, reviewing essays and homework for some of the Professors, and trying to decide which project would suit best. 

There were as many projects as there were pairs. And based on the fact that Hermione was paired with Hannah Abbott from Hufflepuff, they would have selected something that Hermione had chosen for them. He hoped his best friend would learn to compromise, because it wouldn’t be fair to Hannah—who’d also returned for continuing education—who might want to do something that could help her own future as well. 

The list was varied, ranging from ‘ _Restoration potions and their effects on the mind_ ’ with Professor Slughorn—which seemed to focus on both potions and working with Healers at St Mungo’s—to ‘ _A complete dissertation of the Second Wizarding War, and the Battle of Hogwarts_ ’ with Professor Binns. 

Even Hagrid had a smaller project (or so he claimed) that had to do with mucking out stalls and other rather dirty work. Not that Harry was opposed to it, but the one that caught his eye the most would pair him with Madam Hooch. There were a few league teams looking to add to their ranks, and it was up to them to determine if any were good enough to play professionally. Harry felt he had a good eye for talent, having added some rather spectacular players to Griffindor’s team in the past. 

Malfoy was a rather decent seeker in his own right—not that Harry would ever say as much to his face—and would make great observations on the skills shown by the students. 

But by the time the day came for both of them to make a selection, neither of them could agree. Draco wanted to do something related to potions, and Harry was still determined to work with the Quidditch teams—but their arguing took so long that they arrived five minutes late to the sign ups, making them the last pair.

By the time they got through the line and had a chance to see the sign up sheet, only one project remained. 

“Are you absolutely mental, Potter? How is this better than what either of us wanted?!” 

“You think I could be any better at potions than this? At least you’re half decent at Quidditch and it could have been something we would have both enjoyed. But no, you had to be selfish-”

“Selfish? How bloody daft do you have to be? I was trying to ensure my future success in the industry. You are the bleeding saviour of the wizarding world. People would roll over in their graves to hand you a job. Do you honestly think they’d do the same for me?” 

They both stood before the head table, seething with rage. 

“Boys!” McGonagall’s voice cut through to both of them, her disappointment at their display quite evident. “You’ll take your assignment and you’ll go back to your dormitory. At once.”

Still glaring daggers at each other, Draco reached out for the scroll, then turned on his heel and stormed out of the Great Hall. 

—

Turned out, Hagrid wasn’t great with written summaries. The project he had planned was far more involved than just mucking out stalls. 

After the turn-over in the ministry, many people like Hagrid called for the rehabilitation and breeding programs for magical animals to be reinstated. Hagrid himself had tried to work on multiple projects at the same time, but was now getting to the point of being overloaded and overworked. Having the students help out with some of the tasks was the best possible thing to happen to him. That he was stuck with the two most incompetent idiots known to the Wizarding community, was a rather unfortunate thing. 

Harry would strive to do his best, however, not because he expected a good grade, or that the project would yield any prospects in the field he was interested in, but because Hagrid deserved all the best things in this world. And to give him anything less than, was an insult to the man who was the closest thing to a living father, he had. 

By late afternoon, Draco and Harry were on their way to the cabin in the Forbidden Forest, which sat next to a clearing in the woods. Evidently, several people had worked on the spells that covered and protected the space, preventing the Acromantula and other more violent creatures from harming those who resided there. 

While they walked, Draco had kept himself busy reciting by memory all the tasks they had to accomplish daily, while Harry re-read the instruction letter.

_This project will allow us the opportunity to study the herds without breaking them in, allowing them to hone their natural instincts as winged horses. Because of their late foaling this year, many of the herd chose to stay behind—mainly nursing mares—until the foals are able to take flight on their own._

_There are three breeds present within the herd: Abraxan, Aethonan, and Granian. Given their tendencies to congregate in larger numbers, it’s possible some of the foals are in fact cross-breeds._

_Your tasks will include studying their habits, and how they interact as a herd. You will also be responsible for their nourishment should they be unable to leave before snowfall. Keep their enclosures as clean as you can._

_Your cabin will have access to various replenishable potions, and meals will be provided three times a day by house elf. They will be by to change bedding and other house-keeping once a day, but will be available upon request. Magic is restricted within the confines of the warding, mostly for the protection of the Herd. We aren’t sure how it might affect the foals at this stage and would ask that you refrain from too much magical use if it can be helped._

_Should you have any questions, your cottage is equipped with a portrait that can make quick trips to the castle._

_Good luck,_

_Headmistress McGonagall._

The sounds of hooves pounding in the dirt drowned out any thoughts Harry had about their task. He knew next to nothing about horses, let alone magical ones. And somehow, they had found themselves responsible for a whole herd of them.

**Author's Note:**

> Come find me on tumblr: @tsundanire


End file.
